You basically can’t be an international pop star if you’ve got a fear of flying. It’s the ‘international bit – which is hard to achieve without being airborne. Unless you fancy getting a ferry around the world, like Dennis Bergkamp. The tour will feature some pretty sparse dates though.

Gary BarlowGary Barlow Has A Fear of Flying

This is something Gary Barlow knows all too well, although he must have been doing something to remedy it, as Take That weren’t exactly singing at the local pub. “I’m scared of flying – especially the take-off. I just don’t like it, and yet I have to do so much of it. I get really nervous,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I’m scared of dying.” (The Mirror)

Take That travelled round the world to play live shows, attracting droves of teenage girls to their concerts, but Barlow was just putting up with his fears, until now. “I do just get on with it and do it because I have to, really, but I don’t like it and it kind of ruins the whole day because I’m working myself up so much about getting on a plane.”

Enough is enough: Barlow is doing something about his fear of flying, or dying, or both. He says: “Someone from Virgin offered me a course that they do and I said, ‘Listen, I’ll bring 10 other people I know who are REALLY scared’.”

Gary Barlow Since I Saw You LostThe Artwork for Gary Barlow's Album 'Since I Saw You Last'

So once he’s been through the short training, he’ll be able to stroll on to a plane with relative ease.“Apparently, once you’ve done it you’re never worried again,” he said. “They talk you through all the noises and explain that this thing is happening for that reason. I don’t know if it’s hypnotherapy or what exactly they do, but it’s meant to be brilliant and only takes an hour.”